Preeper brothers sentenced in murders of Melissa Peacock, Ben Hare

Joshua Michael Preeper pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for his involvement in the 2011 killing of Melissa Peacock. Dustan Joseph Preeper pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Peacock’s killing and to second-degree murder in the 2010 beating death of Ben Hare. (THE CHRONICLE HERALD)

There was a shocking display in a Halifax courtroom Wednesday by a man who was being sentenced to life in prison for two different murders.

Dustan Joseph Preeper was unrepentant when a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge asked him if he had anything to say before he was sentenced.

“I just want to say thank you and congratulations and you can all go f--- yourselves,” the 26-year-old Dartmouth man said, giving the court the finger. “You mutts.”

The victims’ relatives and friends in the gallery applauded after Justice James Chipman said the remarks were inappropriate and ordered Preeper to sit down.

“What are you going to do, give me another 25 years?” Preeper said.

Preeper pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the 2011 death of Melissa Dawn Peacock, 20, of Dartmouth. He must serve 25 years before he is eligible for parole.

His brother, Joshua Michael Preeper, 22, of Kennetcook, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killing and also received an automatic life sentence. He can apply for parole after 12 years in prison.

Peacock was reported missing in November 2011. Her remains were found in a shallow grave in the Upper Stewiacke area of Colchester County in July 2012.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Peacock was killed Nov. 8, 2011, in Upper Rawdon, Hants County, after partying with the Preepers.

Dustan Preeper stabbed Peacock and then instructed his brother to drag her into the woods, where they poured gasoline on her body and set it on fire.

Later that day, the brothers returned to the scene, retrieved Peacock’s burned remains and drove to a remote wooded area off South Branch Road near Upper Stewiacke, where they buried the remains. Dustan disposed of the murder weapon, a knife, by throwing it off a nearby bridge.

The court was told that Dustan was mad at Peacock because she had tried to leave the party house with his car. He stabbed her several times in the chest.

Dustan Preeper also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 8, 2010, beating death of Ben Hare, 26, of Truro in a brawl outside an apartment building in the east end of the town. That life sentence will be served concurrently, with parole ineligibility set at 12 years.

The facts revealed that Hare attacked Preeper first, stabbing him with a knife in the face, neck and back. A melee ensued and Preeper struck Hare with an aluminum baseball bat.

Hare lost consciousness and fell to the ground. After chasing Hare’s colleagues away, Preeper repeatedly bludgeoned the prone man on the head and chest with the bat.

The medical examiner said Hare suffered multiple skull fractures and died from blunt-force trauma to the head.

Preeper had been acquitted two months earlier on a charge of assaulting Hare’s younger brother, Denver, in October 2009.

Barbara Elizabeth Marshall, 26, of Halifax, Dustan’s girlfriend and the mother of his child, was also accused of second-degree murder in Hare’s death, but the Crown withdrew that charge Wednesday.

The guilty pleas and joint sentencing recommendations were the result of weeks of discussions between Crown attorneys Peter Craig and Shauna MacDonald and the defence lawyers. Peter Planetta represented Dustan Preeper, while Brian Bailey was Joshua’s lawyer and, with son Mark, acted on behalf of Marshall as well.

The judge said the two killings were horrific.

“These were indeed heinous crimes perpetrated on individuals who in no way deserved the fates that befell them,” Chipman said.

“Two young and promising persons are now gone forever and all that we have are their memories — memories of who they were and who they might have become.”

The judge prohibited the brothers from having weapons for the rest of their lives and ordered them to provide DNA samples for a national databank.

Outside court, Rufus Peacock, Melissa’s grandfather, said he was satisfied that justice had been done.

He said it was difficult to have to hear the details of his granddaughter’s killing and to understand why it happened.

“But it happened, and we go on with our life,” he said. “Melissa was very, very close to me. I spent a lot of time with her, and someday I’ll see her.”

Peacock said Dustan Preeper’s comments to the court were “just horrible, horrendous.”

“It made it very difficult for the families on both sides. All we can say is that justice has been served and we’re thankful for it.”

Tiny White, the Preepers’ aunt, blamed Dustan’s courtroom outburst on the fact he has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

“He’s not a monster, he’s not a monster,” White told reporters.

The Preepers were arrested in July 2012 thanks to information about the Peacock case that police received through the provincial Justice Department’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program, launched in 2006. It was the first time a tip to the program, which offers rewards of up to $150,000, had led to charges in a murder case.

The court heard Wednesday that investigators used an undercover police operator and a police agent to gather evidence against the Preepers. Dustan took the undercover officer to the burial site in July 2012 and divulged that he burned his clothing and Melissa Peacock’s wallet and phone the day after the murder. Dustan also admitted that he hit Hare in the head with the bat severaltimes and did not stop until police arrived.